(Newser)
–
Guards hired by the State Department to protect diplomats and staff at the US embassy in Afghanistan live and work in a Lord of the Flies environment in which they are subjected to hazing and humiliation by supervisors, a government oversight group says. In a 10-page letter to Hillary Clinton, the independent Project on Government Oversight contended the situation has led to a breakdown in morale and leadership that compromises security.

Sen. Claire McCaskill called on the State Department to open an investigation into the management of the contract with ArmorGroup North America. One email from a guard describes lurid conditions at Camp Sullivan, the guards' quarters. It details scenes of abuse including guards and supervisors urinating on people and "threats and intimidation from those leaders participating in this activity." Photographs show guards and supervisors in various stages of nudity at parties.